Take Care of the Feet and Legs

A.J asked me to stop by Wednesday and said you helped me with the sore on my leg and I want you to look at a sore on Jerry's left foot. Jerry took his shoe and sock off and I could see what A.J was seeing. I asked Jerry how long this had been there. He said about a month or longer and his wife had said not to worry about it. I said that he had better worry and get to the doctor as soon as possible. It was a foot ulcer about a quarter of an inch deep and looked bad.

I asked why he had not had it looked at before. He said that his wife had told him it wasn't serious and he should ignore it. A.J said that it is serious and he needed to see the doctor and get it treated. I said I would take him if necessary, but the quicker he got to the doctor, the better. He put in a call to Dr. Tom's office for an appointment and they told him to come immediately and they would work him in as soon as possible. A.J said he would take him then and I went home and they went to the doctor.

When they were done, A.J called and said they would stop by. When they arrived, I met them outside and that way Jerry would not need to walk. We discussed what Dr. Tom had accomplished and Jerry said he had looked at both his feet and legs and asked if he knew of any other sores. They found the start of a second ulcer on his right foot and had treated both. A.J said he is only to walk when absolutely necessary and use the crutches even to go to the bathroom. He was to use his heels as much as possible to bear the weight.

A.J said that Jerry should be able to handle applying the medication which they needed to get from the pharmacy. Then each evening A.J was to look at the areas and report the next day to the nurse. Jerry said he felt like a burden, and both A.J and I said that this is what we do for others with diabetes and that we were glad to help. A.J said he would have another appointment in a week and the doctor would reevaluate the sores.

I suggested that I would get in touch with Max and have him come by with his mirror for looking at the feet and A.J said they were stopping to see him when they finished at the pharmacy. Jerry then said, you people think of everything. A.J said that was not totally true or we would have separated you from your wife earlier. Jerry said he would not have believed everything, but having her force carbohydrates on him and telling him to ignore a foot ulcer did scare him. He said that having people to help him was really appreciated and especially ones that would see that he was treated by a doctor when necessary.

Jerry asked how many interventions has the group accomplished. A.J said that he was our first and we were hoping that with his help, we could get his friends from relying on his wife for nutrition advice. Jerry asked who as there were several with type 2 diabetes. I then asked if they could accept a few of us joining them later that evening. A.J said they should as it sounds like there is an urgent need. I would contact Tim first and let him know. A.J said he would contact Max and change it for him to come rather than showing Jerry the mirrors in the car.

With that, A.J said about 7:00 PM then and they were off to fill Jerry's prescriptions.